‘With a reported 50 inches of rainfall, flash flooding and high, murky waters, Hurricane Harvey in Houston has gripped America’s attention. But halfway around the world, another flood has wreaked havoc on historic levels. Two weeks ago, record monsoon rains hit parts of Bangladesh, India and Nepal, bringing the worst floods the region has seen in years. Over 1,200 people have been killed and 24 million affected.’

‘WASHINGTON (AP) — As President Donald Trump touts new oil pipelines and pledges to revive the nation’s struggling coal mines, federal scientists are warning that burning fossil fuels is already driving a steep increase in the United States of heat waves, droughts and floods.’

‘The effects of climate change are already having an impact on the U.S., after average temperatures have risen dramatically over the last four decades, according to a draft of a government report that was obtained and published by The New York Times on Monday.’

‘If greenhouse gas emissions aren’t brought under control, global warming will boost heat waves in the region to the limits of what humans can endure on a yearly basis, a new study finds. But if action is taken to curb climate change the threat could be substantially reduced.’

‘The criticisms of Gore, while sometimes legitimate, are so numerous and impassioned as to reveal something deeper at work: an anxiety about the direction and effectiveness of the movement itself. There’s a profound fear among many activists that time is running out, that we have only a few more years to take the necessary actions to solve the climate crisis.’

‘Today, Representatives Jared Polis (CO), Jared Huffman (CA), Raul Grijalva (AZ) and Pramila Jayapal (WA) introduced a bill to phase out fossil fuels and completely replace them with clean, renewable energy by 2050. The bill would put in place a comprehensive plan to ramp up renewable energy and energy efficiency, and the electrification of transportation and heating, while putting a halt to the development of fossil fuel infrastructure. It also includes provisions to train workers in the transition to clean energy to encourage the deployment of clean energy in disadvantaged communities.’

‘…Stephen A. Montzka, a NOAA research chemist who worked on the index, said the spike between 2015 and 2016 — the largest incremental increase in greenhouse gases since 1988 — was largely caused by El Niño. The jump between 1987 and 1988, which came in at a slightly higher 2.8 percent, was also linked to an El Niño.’

‘A chunk of floating ice that weighs more than a trillion metric tons broke away from the Antarctic Peninsula, producing one of the largest icebergs ever recorded and providing a glimpse of how the Antarctic ice sheet might ultimately start to fall apart.’